Bob planted the last of the garlic last week.  We have mostly our old standby “New York White” (AKA “Polish White”) which makes up our main crop.  But this year we expanded the varieties to include “German Extra Hardy”, which is a hardneck variety from Johnny’s, as well as “Killarney Red” and “Lorz” purchased locally from Susan West at the St Clairsville Farmers’ Market. 

The cloves of the “German Extra Hardy” were very large, which is good when it comes to cooking.  But large cloves mean less cloves per head, and so less plants for next year.   That means I’ll have to wait a another year to expand my crop.  I think the German and the Killarney Red are rocambole types that will produce garlic scapes, which can be picked green and sauteed like asparagus or made into yummy pesto.  I’m looking forward to that treat.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where I finally had to break down and turn on the furnace for the first time tonight.

We just got back– well, 5 days ago, I guess– from Portland, Oregon.  We were attending the Far West Nursery Trade Show, and getting together with colleagues to discuss the future of the Independent Garden Center.  And we took two extra days to play tourist.  One day we hiked in the Columbia River Gorge, and one day we bummed our way around downtown Portland, visiting, among other places,  Powell Books, which claims to be the largest bookstore in the country.  And after browsing through floor after floor of books, I believe it!

The Trade Show portion of our trip included visits to our current Pacific Northwest tree and shrub suppliers, and a scouting expedition to seek out more.  The vacation portion included some awesome waterfalls in the Gorge and a beautiful view of the Columbia River as we drove along Marine Highway and the Historic Columbia River Highway.  The local folks warned us about the “winding and hilly roads”, but we just laughed.  It’s obvious they haven’t travelled along the winding and hilly roads in the Ohio Valley!

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill on a sultry summer-ish night.

By now you’ve probably heard about the apparently random killing of an American businessman in Beijing, and the stabbing of his wife.  The businessman was Todd Bachman, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Bachman’s, Inc., a respected corporation that owns and operates 19 assorted retail garden centers, florists, greenhouses, gift shops and landscape operations in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, as well as a wholesale nursery and growing division.  Todd was in China because his son-in-law, Hugh McCutcheon, is the head coach of the 2008 US Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team.  Read more about this tragedy here.

We had just finished dinner tonight when the sky darkened, and the temperature dropped, and the wind picked up, thunder and lightning began, and it started to rain… no, rain mixed with hail!  Bob took a quick picture of the hail stones covering the deck, and it is a good thing he acted quickly, because it melted almost immediately and ended quite soon.  It was interesting while it lasted, though.

We worked on renewing the herb garden today, and I transplanted some herbs from one area to another.  The rain was a timely helper.  Finally got my cucumbers and zucchini planted, too, and the weeds pulled from the beets, the tomatoes tied to their stakes, and everything sprayed with Deer Stopper.  Of course, the rain didn’t do that any good.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill, where the rain has stopped and the night is cool.

The Oglebay Secret Garden Market went on, in spite of the rain.  Thanks to those of you who braved the rain and stopped by to see us.  I went on the tour, along with two members of  the “Dirty Dozen”, and picked up some good ideas from the four gardens on display.  Many thanks to those generous folks who agreed to share their gardens with us.  I know the Secret Garden committee would love to have some more gardens available to tour the next time (in 2010), so if you live in Wheeling or nearby and are interested, please contact us at Ferda’s and we’ll pass the word along.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where it is still drippy outside.

We’ll be setting up (weather permitting) at the Mansion Museum tomorrow for the Oglebay Secret Garden Tour Market.  The market goes from 9AM to 2PM, and the tour from 10AM to 4PM– again, weather permitting.  The weather forecast calls for thunderstorms, and we’ve never been involved in this when it has been rained out.  So I don’t know what will happen if that happens.  But we hope we’ll see you then.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where the rain is threatening and drove us off the deck.

We apologize, but we have had to cancel our Art In the Garden promotion scheduled for June 20th.  We’ll try again next year. 

Stop in our display at the Oglebay Secret Garden Tour Market in front of the Mansion Museum next Saturday.  We’ll have some goodies for you to buy and we’ll answer any gardening questions you may have.  And the Tour won’t be half bad either.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where the night is hot and muggy.

Since Thursday, the days have been pleasant, but this afternoon a front came in and the temperature plummeted, leaving a very cold night.  I’m glad I haven’t planted my tomatoes yet.  Tomatoes (and peppers and eggplants, basil and such) don’t like cold nights any more than I do. 

We had a customer call today and tell us that her tomatoes and cucumbers(!!??) had all turned yellow and were dying.  She had lost three weeks already, she was saying.  When we explained that tomatoes and cucumbers should not have even been planted yet in this kind of weather, let alone three weeks ago, she got a little huffy and said she certainly knew how to grow tomatoes.  Hmmm…

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where the temperatures have dropped.

The weatherman says this weekend is supposed to be sunny and warmer.  I sure hope he is right this time!  The nights are still cool, so tomato and pepper plants still won’t like it, but other vegetables and flowers should do well.  I got out into my garden for a few hours today, and planted some more lettuce, some beans and beets, Swiss chard (bright lights) and okra.  I’ve never grown okra, this will be a learning experience.  Put in more onion sets, too, since mine are making flower stalks already for some reason.  (It must be weather related.) 

We have a container gardening workshop tomorrow (May 24th) and Dawn has been gathering plants in the container greenhouse for the participants to choose from.  I think those of you who make a patio or porch pot will be pleased with the results!

We’ll be open on Memorial Day (Monday) from 12 until 5 for those of you who want to do some gardening on the holiday.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where the night is downright chilly for May.

They are saying (who are “they”, by the way?) that the temperature might reach 80 degrees on Monday.  That will be quite a change from today when it might have hit 60. Maybe.  As a person who is happiest when I am digging in the dirt, this spring (and I use the term reluctantly) has been less than pleasant.  I like to work in the garden when it isn’t too, too hot, but when it is too, too wet, not so much.  One good thing, weeds do come out pretty readily from soggy soil.  But planting must wait for another day– or another week, perhaps.

I bought a pair of hardy kiwi vines from a mail order place in Oregon.  I purchased a pair of them locally last year, and the male died, while the female survived and is doing quite well.  So I needed another male (they won’t set fruit without a male present) and decided to add another female also.  But it has been too wet to plant them, so they are sitting in their pots.  These kiwis are not the brown fuzzy ones that you find at the grocery.  Those must be grown in warmer climates.  These are green ones the size of large grapes, and they are hardy in this area.  I’ve always wanted to try to grow them.

They vine, of course, as the name implies, and I’ve got to put up a sturdy trellis pretty soon so that the one that is growing from last year and the male from this year, which are pretty good sized already, have somewhere to go.  The second female is still tiny– I just transplanted her into a nursery pot to grow on since I can’t plant in the ground yet.

I’ll keep you posted on how they do.

Written by Lynn on the slope of Teasel Hill where the temperature is around 60 and rain threatens–again.